The Seven Sisters and Brothers
by Jewell Trim
Summary: Buck has to do entry journals for his astronomy class. He isn't really excited about it, but something unexpected happens that makes his night.


Buck trudged to the closet already accepting his fate. It was starting to get pretty cold outside at October.

For Astronomy class, Buck had been assigned a constellation to keep track of. It wasn't really how he wanted to spend his nights, but he had already skipped three entries and couldn't risk a fourth.

He sighed as he grabbed his coat and gloves, putting them on slowly. When he closed the door he found JD grinning up at him.

Buck patted the boy on the head, "Hiya kid."

"You're going to look at stars now?"

The answer was obvious but Buck nodded.

JD bounced excitedly before pushing pass Buck and grabbing his own coat.

"What are you doing?" Buck asked.

"Getting ready to go."

Buck frowned, confused at JD's answer.

He looked up and saw Vin racing to the closet and was followed by the older boys.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Figured the project wouldn't be so lame if you had company." Chris grinned.

Buck watched as all of his brothers grabbed their coats and gloves. Chris made sure the younger ones were wearing their hats before heading to the front room.

Karen was waiting at the entrance of the kitchen.

"You boys ready?" she asked.

Buck smiled. She was in on it too.

Josiah said yes and she handed him a bunch of blankets and thermos with hot chocolate. She gave Chris the bag of marshmallows and told him not to let the younger ones overdo it.

Buck grabbed the telescope he was using from school and followed his brothers outside.

The night air was crisp and he could see his breath.

The others were giddy and talking amongst themselves.

"So where are we headed?" asked Chris.

"I go to the park where there aren't any lights."

Chris nodded and everyone got on their bikes.

Vin hopped onto the back of Chris's and JD on Buck's.

Nathan pulled his bike up next to Josiah and Buck while Ezra stirred his next to Chris.

"Lead the way, bro." smiled Josiah.

Buck took them to an empty field where there weren't any lights. It was perfect for setting up their little camp.

Chris, Josiah, Nathan and Ezra arranged the blankets that were to be laid on the ground before letting the younger boys flounce down. Other blankets were produced to wrap up in to keep warm.

While they were doing this, Buck was busy setting up his telescope to find his constellation. When he found it he stepped back and watched his brothers who were still trying to get settled down.

JD was sitting on his knees waiting for Josiah to distribute the hot cocoa so he could get marshmallows. Vin was pulling at Chris's coat to give him a little bit beforehand. Ezra was looking up at the sky, pointing at constellations he already knew while Josiah said something to him and Nathan.

Chris noticed Buck watching them.

"You ready?" he asked.

Buck nodded.

"Alright everyone, Buck will have your attention now."

Everyone settled down and waited for Buck.

Vin had stopped begging and was now leaning against Chris trying to stay warm.

JD was in a blanket with Josiah. The little boy sitting on his lap. Nathan and Ezra were silently drinking their cocoa.

"Well before I begin I want to thank you all for coming out here with me. Honestly I wasn't expecting this." he laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "So you may already know I'm taking Astronomy which I totally thought would be an easy A+ but they forget to tell you about the evil labs and math portions. Anyway, we are assigned to watch a constellation for the semester and record information on it. For example the teacher showed us how to find out where in the sky the constellations are in by using a system of azimuth and elevation. It's not really that interesting so I won't bore you on how to use it."

Buck gestured to his telescope, "So I'll be showing you the constellation called Pleiades which is also known as the Seven Sisters. You can see them now if you look hard." he pointed to a small cluster of stars.

JD squinted, "I can't see it!"

"Why don't you come on up and you can see it better with the telescope?" Buck smiled.

JD abandoned his spot with Josiah and walked up to the telescope. Buck made sure it was still pointing at his constellation before letting JD look.

"Cool! It's a lot closer now."

"It may look that way, JD, but they're light years away." Josiah said as he watched the stars from his spot.

"Can I see them up close too?" asked Vin.

Buck nodded and Vin clambered from his seat and took a look in the telescope.

"So what's your assignment?" asked Nathan.

"I have to track how fast they are moving." Buck answered as he collected his journal.

"What are you talking about? They aren't moving." JD laughed.

"Actually they are." Josiah corrected, "If you watch them through a telescope you can see them moving. To us it might not appear like they're moving fast, but they are."  
JD pushed Vin out of the way to see for himself.

"Awesome." came his reply, announcing that he saw it.

"Move on over there, JD, let some of us see them." grunted Chris as he stood to his feet. The others got up too.

They all took turns looking at the sisters and Buck showed them which ones were which, telling the individual names of the stars.

When they were all done looking, Buck set to work doing his transits.

JD asked him what a transit was.

"It's when you watch a star, or in this case a constellation, go from one end of the telescope to the other. You time them and then later I'll have to use a math formula to calculate how fast they are moving in light years."

"Geez, no wonder you hate math." Vin said as he pinched his face.

"Chris usually helps me with that part." Buck confessed.

The others sat down on the blankets and talked about other stars and constellations while Buck finished up his transits. He was just finishing up his last one when Chris stepped up next to him.

"You ready to call it a night?"

Buck sighed and nodded. He wished he could've joined the others and laugh at Josiah's stories about where the names of stars came to be. To fight with Vin and keep the younger boy from eating all the marshmallows. To just lay back and just look at the stars with Ezra. The two walked up to the rest of the group.

"Well I'm finished so I guess we can head back."

"What?" asked Vin.

"Why?" It was JD who you could barely see because he was wrapped up in a pile of blankets.

"Well I'm done."

"Then join us already and have some hot cocoa before it's all cold. We saved you some marshmallows in case you want some. It took a lot to keep Vin from eating all of them."

Buck grinned and sat down on the blankets. JD unraveled himself from his blankets and gave one to Buck before crawling into his lap.

Nathan handed him cocoa and marshmallows.

He took a sip and exhaled happily. Warmth ran through him and he took another sip.

"So Josiah's been waiting on you so he could tell us the story of the Seven Sisters." Vin grinned.

The boy was laying with Chris again.

"Well by all means, Josiah, you may begin."

"So the Seven Sisters were born from Atlas and Pleione. They were the most beautiful goddesses ever to look upon, but they were also known for their intelligence, their courage, their passion, and their strength. They were warriors who would come down to help mortals who were suffering under tyrants. The sisters at first were not close, you could almost say they were estranged. When an evil tyrant arose though, the sisters came together and defeat him and his army. From then on they were close, always standing by each other."

Vin rose his hand.

"Yeah Vin."

"How come it looks like there are only six?"

"That's because one of the sisters fell in love with a mortal man and when you can't see her, that's when she is visiting him."

"But ain't he dead?" asked JD.

"Yes, but love doesn't always end in death." Josiah smiled.

The rest of the night the boys laid down in a circle, all looking up to the heavens.

Just then a flash went across the sky.

"Did you see that?" asked Vin.

"That was a shooting star. People used to wish on them."

"Can we?" asked JD.

"Sure."

"I wish…I wish that Buck stops treating me like a little kid."

Everyone laughed.

"I'm sure your wish will come true in about the next decade maybe." Buck said in between his laughter.

JD shoved him.

"Well I wish that the test next Friday gets cancelled. Oh and I also want more marshmallows." said Vin.

Chris handed him a handful to shut him up.

Vin sighed, "I love my wish."

"I wish that the cold would hold off until at least after Thanksgiving." Nathan grumbled as he readjusted his blanket.

"What about you guys?" asked JD to the four who hadn't said anything yet.

"What about us?" asked Chris with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you guys wish for?"

"I don't need to make a wish."

Vin shrugged.

Chris smiled up at the Seven Sisters. He knew about their real story when he was helping Buck to research. They had horrible lives, but good things also happened.

Like them, his brothers had horrible things happen in their lives, but something good did come out of it like in Josiah's story. They all found each other and became a family.

He didn't need a wish because all he needed was right here.

The others were thinking the same thing.

Josiah loved his younger brothers and couldn't think of any place he'd rather be. He silently thanked God for sending Karen and bringing them all together.

Ezra had enjoyed Josiah's woven tale too. He also knew of the horrors that happened to them. It made him grateful for his new brothers and Karen. At first he thought he'd hate it. Try to get himself kicked out, but he was thankful he didn't. It almost scared him of the thing he would've thrown away. No, he couldn't picture any place he'd rather be.

Buck gave a contented sigh and looked around him. He smiled and felt JD curl up against him. Tonight was supposed to have been horrible with him all by himself in the cold looking at the Seven Sisters who had terrible lives. It wasn't supposed have been fun with his brothers laying here with him. Buck smiled, a tear running down the side of his face. He felt the chill instantly when the wind blew but it didn't bother him. Squeezing JD, he knew he didn't need a wish because just like Chris, Ezra, and Josiah he had everything he needed. He pictured the Seven Sisters were actually all of their loved ones who were watching out for them. So instead of a wish he whispered a soft thank you.

"You're welcome." JD mumbled already half asleep.

Buck kissed the top of his head.

 **Epilogue:**

"That's the last time I'm ever going to agree and let you all stay out that late." Karen grumbled as she fussed over JD.

Over the next few days all of the boys had gotten sick and she had to call them all out of school. Vin was the happiest because he was missing his test. Apparently his wishes were really coming true.

Ezra was laying on the couch in a blanket with a heating pack and a box of tissues. Vin and JD were in their PJs watching the TV while eating chicken noodle soup. Nathan felt too sick to leave his bed and was sleeping. Josiah was helping Karen even though he too had a sore throat and runny nose. Chris and Buck were on the other couch watching everything.

Buck wiped his nose with a tissue.

"I think we should go stargazing more often don't you?" asked Chris cheekily.

"Oh no one won't." said Karen as she walked pass them.

The boys laughed.

"Thanks Chris."

"For what?"

"You guys all coming with me."

Chris shrugged, "I actually just got the feeling that we should come with you. I told the others and they said they all felt it too. Like the need to go."

Buck frowned, "That day I was dreading to go out there."

"Maybe, as Josiah would put it, this was the act of a higher being."

"I like to think it's our parents looking over us." Buck smiled.

Chris returned it and took another spoonful of soup.

"I can get behind that."

 **A/N: Hey guys, so I hope this story didn't seem forced. It came to me this morning (2pm, I slept in because I'm on school break). Buck's story is centered on my having to go out in the freaking cold last semester for Astronomy. It was pretty lonely and when my friend joined me this one time it made a world of difference. Tried to through some Astronomy things in like azimuth and elevation but I was too lazy to explain it and I'm sure you don't really care. Of course Josiah's tale on the Seven Sisters is false. I'm to believe their lives sucked according to the things I looked up about them. I hoped you liked the story though and won't hate me if you don't. I repeat this was not to be a series, but readers asked for more. So it's safe to assume**


End file.
